States begin to consider mileage tax

Midland Reporter-Telegram

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Americans have a deep and understandable aversion to gasoline taxes. It's all about living in a deep-seeded culture based on individual freedom where the right to roam our vast spaces is sacrosanct as the Bill of Rights.

The United States taxes gasoline far less than most world powers. For instance, the U.S. federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. In Britain, as in much of Europe, the tax approaches $4 per gallon. That's more than 20 times the federal levy here. No one with national political ambitions proposes a major gas tax. In America driving habits take the form of regulation of the auto companies. That's a much safer path.

However, there is once again a new taxing plan raising its head for the first time and it will be interesting to see if it gains any traction in the coming years.

Oregon is among a growing number of states exploring ways to tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive instead of how much gas they use. Oregon is ahead of the nation in exploring the concept, even though it will probably be years before any mileage tax is actually adopted.

The idea became attractive to Oregon lawmakers as far back as 10 years ago when the first thought was that fuel-efficient cars such as gas-electric hybrids could pose a threat to road upkeep, which is paid for largely with gasoline taxes.

Congress is talking about it, too. A congressional commission has envisioned a system similar to the prototype Oregon tested in 2006-07. The National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing is considering calling for higher gas taxes to keep highways, bridges and transit programs in good shape, according to The Associated Press.

When cars begin to burn less fuel, the gas tax isn't going to fill the bill for state road repairs. States are simply going to find a way to fund highway projects. You can take that fact to the bank and there remains a wide sentiment that highway users should fund those upkeep expenses.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has included development money for the tax in his budget proposal, and interest is growing in a number of other states. Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island have considered systems that would require drivers to report their mileage when they register vehicles. In North Carolina, a panel suggested charging motorists a quarter-cent for every mile as a substitute for the gas tax. Talk of mileage tax proposals is afoot in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado and Minnesota as well.

Naturally, there is plenty of opposition as critics fear such a tax could eliminate the financial incentive for buying efficient vehicles. Privacy concerns also enter the equation and the auto industry would have to be an integral part of such a move.

But don't be surprised that the nation one day will consider taxing mileage rather than gasoline as drivers use more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles.